Saturday, May 31, 2008

Some of the Word Sudoku puzzles I've lined up for today and next week are not one word--I think. To be completely honest, I don't know! Is TOUCHPADS one word? I think so! And I believe KING COBRA is two words. But how about YACHTROPE? One or two?

Well, each contains nine letters, so each is a Word Sudoku puzzle for you today and a few days next week! Today's puzzle is the standard, or 'classic' 9x9 (3x3 internal squares) grid, with no hidden words or diagonals to twist you!

Word Sudoku puzzle: TOUCHPADS

Each row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the word or phrase exactly once

Friday, May 30, 2008

Each day I give you a new Sudoku puzzle to solve--but they're not the normal puzzles using the numbers 1-9. These puzzles are Word Sudoku puzzles, using the letters of a 9-letter word. (Or 8, or 12...we don't just do the obvious around here!) Today's puzzle is formed around the word NEURALGIC:

NEURALGIC

Each row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the word or phrase exactly once

I'll publish the solution first thing tomorrow morning, Pacific time (Saturday), and I'll publish a new puzzle for you later in the day. And be sure to drop by Sunday morning, when I ask you to solve my Sunday Challenge--a 12x12 (3x4 internal rectangles) Hidden Word Sudoku! It'll stretch those "thinking abs" a different direction, if you've been imbibing only 9x9 (3x3 internal squares) Sudoku!

This puzzle, ONSLAUGHT, was reasonably simple--not a normal newspaper's "4-star Thursday" puzzle. In fact, most of the puzzles I'm showing you on this blog are the equivalent of 1- or 2-star, on purpose. I can make really hard ones, but only the best solvers can solve them--and I readily admit, that does NOT include me! I want EVERYONE to get some fun out of these puzzles, so I'm making them on the easier side.

The very fact that each puzzle has a different set of symbols makes each puzzle a BIT harder--instead of looking at a particular cell in the grid and running through the numbers 1-9, you have to spell out whatever word, phrase or anagram you've been supplied with the specific puzzle--the process of filtering possibilities is no longer generic from puzzle to puzzle, but SPECIFIC to EACH puzzle.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Word Sudoku Puzzle: THURIBLESEach row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the word or phrase exactly once

And now, the 14x14 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle I hope you've been waiting for. The anagram is KID WHAT CONQUER--not quite English, but who cares? I hope you enjoy it.

14x14 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle: KID WHAT CONQUER

Each row, column and 2x7 rectangle contain the letters in the anagram of the word or phrase exactly once; the hidden word or phrase is spelled down the diagonal

Remember the 'trick' with 2 columns: whatever set of symbols is in the lower half of one column MUST be the same set of symbols in the upper half of the other 'paired' column, where the pair of columns comprises two stacked rectangles.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Word Sudoku Puzzle: BLUDGEONSEach row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the word or phrase exactly once

Here's your daily Word Sudoku puzzle, courtesy Dave--an amateur puzzle hobbyist. I enjoy constructing puzzles, and I've compiled a collection of variants of Word Sudoku puzzles, including 8x8 (2x4 internal rectangles), 9x9 (the usual 3x3 internal squares), 10x10 (2x5), 12x12 (either 2x6 or 3x4, but 3x4 is more fun), 14x14 (2x7), 15x15 (3x5) and 16x16 (4x4, because 2x8 is too much of a good thing). Of course, I can make larger ones, but I feel they get too hard to complete correctly in a reasonable amount of time, so aren't as much fun. The larger ones, above 12x12, are often tied to complete quotes, where the Word Sudoku puzzle provides the key letters to the much longer (50 or even 100-letter) quote. But I have some cute 8x8 key-to-quote Word Sudoku puzzles. I'll share one of the small ones some day soon. And I'll give you a 14x14 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle tomorrow!

The Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle, RICE AXONS, might have been a bit tougher. And you undoubtedly grimaced rather than grinned when you realized there *was* an ever-so-tenuous clue buried in the anagram of the solution, ANOREXICS. I'd say "Sorry," but I'm not! It's supposed to be that way! Sorry!

Another classic Word Sudoku puzzle coming your way later today. And tomorrow, I'll show you that 14x14 puzzle...it's easier than it looks!

Monday, May 26, 2008

I give you a 'classic' 9x9 Sudoku puzzle to solve (but not publish yourself--these are copyrighted!) every day--but the puzzles are Word Sudoku, using the letters of a 9-letter word, not the numbers 1-9.

Word Sudoku Puzzle: YEARLINGS

Each row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the word or phrase exactly once

Every once in a while, I like to give you a "little somethin' else"--a variant that extends the classic puzzle. Today I'm including a 9x9 Hidden Word Sudoku, where I give you the letters of the hidden word or phrase, but rearranged in an anagram; as you solve the Sudoku using the normal rule, you spell out the hidden word (usually down or up one of the diagonals). The anagram sometimes provides a very obscure clue. But you won't know it until you solve it, and then you'll either grin or grimace as you get the play on words.

Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle: RICE AXONS

Each row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the anagram of the word or phrase exactly once; the hidden word or phrase is spelled down the diagonal

Later this week (Wednesday, I think), I'll show you a 14x14 (2x7 internal rectangles) Hidden Word Sudoku: a mid-week challenge!

Solutions to the 5/25/2008 Sunday Challenge and other Word Sudoku Puzzles

The classic, OBSERVANT, was still pretty easy! The "difficulty level" is pretty hard to measure--if there's a standard, I don't know it--but Crossword Compiler measures it as easy, "requiring only single-symbol logic."

(I use Crossword Compiler to build my puzzles. I've gotta tell you, CC creator Antony Lewis is a GENIUS in my book. If you want to construct crosswords of any kind, or Sudoku puzzles, Crossword Compiler is THE tool. I happen to have an M.Sc. in computer science, but I must admit I have *no idea* how Antony's program works...but I use it daily and LOVE it! Absolutely, highly, "must have" recommended, for puzzle constructors. I've built a thousand Sudoku puzzles and about two thousand crossword puzzles using it.)

The Sunday Challenge, LAZIEST PUNCH (aka ZINC SULPHATE), was a bit harder--but nowhere near as tough as the 16x16 in the newspapers. Thinking of cross-hatching in a serires of columns or rows spanning 3x4 rectangles, rather than 3x3 squares, *does* take some practice...and don't forget to use the fact that all the letters are also contained exactly once down the diagonal!

Later today, I'll give you both the daily Classic Word Sudoku puzzle and a 9x9 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle I hope you'll enjoy.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Every day I include a "classic" Word Sudoku puzzle, an otherwise normal 9x9 puzzle, except that it uses the letters in a 9-letter word rather than the digits 1-9. Here's today's classic puzzle:

5/25/2008 Word Sudoku Puzzle: OBSERVANTEach row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the word or phrase exactly once

And on some days (really, as I feel like it!), I include more Word Sudoku puzzles, often of varying sizes, for the fun of it!

Today's Sunday, and many newspapers provide us puzzlers a larger, more difficult challenge on this day, in both the crossword (instead of the weekday-sized 15x15, Sunday's crosswords are 21x21 or even 23x23) and the Sudoku (The Oregonian, my hometown paper, includes a 16x16 "Monster Sudoku." And it is!). So I think you'll like the "Sunday Challenge" I'm giving you today.

12x12 Hidden Word Sudoku Sunday Challenge: LAZIEST PUNCHEach row, column and 3x4 rectangle contain the letters in the anagram of the word or phrase exactly once; the hidden word or phrase is spelled down the diagonal

Please let me know what you think of these puzzles. I do this for a hobby, with the hope of eventually publishing a collection. I'd love your feedback.

The diagonal Word Sudoku puzzle, MORPHINES, required you to include the diagonals, but that actually gives you MORE information! Once you realize that, filling in the letters speeds up.

As you thought about how to solve the 8x8 hidden Word Sudoku puzzle OH UP I ARE (EUPHORIA), you probably quickly realized that when internal grouping are only 2 columns wide, you have ENORMOUS information! Study the solution above: Whatever set of symbols is in the lower half of one column MUST be the same set of symbols in the upper half of the opposite column. That realization makes 2-column Sudoku puzzles a lot easier.

In later posts, I'll show you some 2x7 Word Sudoku Puzzles (that act as keys to phrases you have to figure out) that are quite fun--or, at least, *I* think so!

New puzzles will be posted later today, including a "Sunday Challenge"--a 12x12 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle (with 3x4 internal rectangles)!

The third one is an 8x8 (2x4 internal rectangles) Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle--I give you the 8 letters in an anagram; you discover the word or phrase spelled down the diagonal as you solve the Word Sudoku puzzle.

8x8 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle: OH UP I AREEach row, column and 2x4 rectangle contain the letters in the anagram of the hidden word or phrase exactly once; the hidden word or phrase is spelled down the diagonal

Have fun! And please let me know what you think. I haven't yet convinced any publisher that these would sell; I have a couple of books of them ready to be published, and your comments will help me produce better puzzles!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Hi. Thanks for taking the time to look this over. You'll find Word Sudoku puzzles here.

I would have named this blog something with the word "Sudoku" in it, since the puzzles I'm placing here are Sudoku puzzles; but while the puzzle form itself isn't protected, that *name* "Sudoku" is--it's a trademark of puzzle publisher Nikoli Co., Ltd. in Japan, a fine company, with geniuses for employees, who apparently get to sit around all day and make up fabulous (and sometimes pretty darn difficult!) puzzles--wow.

So I called this blog "Magic Word Square," based on the fact that Sudoku puzzles are based on Latin Squares. I'll call my book "Word Sudoku" if I ever get it published and we talk to Nikoli for permission to use that word in the title. I haven't found a publisher yet...any takers? Master crossword constructor Frank Longo has published several books of Sudoku puzzles using words instead of numbers--so I guess I'd be his competition. That's not good for me! (I [try to] solve Franks' 21x21 Sunday crossword published in The Oregonian every Sunday.)

So what's a Sudoku puzzle? It's a logic puzzle, usually a 9x9 grid, with one and only one rule:

"Fill in the allowed symbols(usually the digits 1-9)so that each row, column and outlined 3x3 square contains each symbol exactly once."

(How hard could *that* be?!)

But some people mistake these fun, addicting logic puzzles for MATH: after all, you have to use numbers!

Puzzle: DECATHLON

Use the letters in the word DECATHLON to fill in the cells in the puzzle grid using the one and only rule: each row, column and 3x3 square contains each letter exactly once

Let me offer you proof of the opposite. I intend to "publish" one (or more, if the mood hits me) "Word Sudoku" puzzle here each day, and the answer the next day. While the puzzles are copyrighted, I grant you the right to print and complete--but not to publish them yourself; it's *my* intellectual property going into creating the word lists (I have 10,000 nine-letter words on my list right now) and making the puzzles.

Hidden Word Puzzle: DO ART QUIZ

Use the letters in the anagram DO ART QUIZ to fill in the cells in the puzzle grid using the one and only rule: each row, column and outlined 3x3 square contains each letter exactly once. The hidden word of phrase will be spelled down the diagonal.

I also have created some hopefully fun variations, including what I call "Hidden Word Sudoku" puzzles: I give you the letters, arranged as an anagram; as you complete the puzzle using the one and only rule, you"discover" the hidden word or phrase, usually spelled down the diagonal. OR nine letters are circled in the puzzle; once you figure out which letter goes where, you can complete another grid containing a full hidden quote. It sounds way more complicated than it is--you'll see, I'm publishing one of *those* right away to whet your appetite.

Feel free to print the puzzles (jpegs) and complete them! I hope you enjoy solving them as much as I've enjoyed making them. And please give me your constructive feedback. *Do* you like these variations of the classic Sudoku puzzle? Shouldn't *your* newspaper call me and ask to publish these daily, next to the number version? (I have several thousand ready to go, already lined up by the day of the year, with Friday puzzles hidden word or diagonal, and Sunday puzzles size 12x12--I found the 16x16 Sunday puzzles in The Oregonian too hard, but I liked the challenge of *slightly* bigger puzzles!)

Here's your first three Word Sudoku puzzles, a classic 9x9, a "Hidden Word" 9x9, and a little more complicated hidden phrase puzzle using a 12x12 puzzle as its decoder.

Please let me know what you think! Solutions tomorrow!

12x12 Puzzle: IN BRASH QUOTEUse the letters in the anagram IN BRASH QUOTE to fill in the cells in the puzzle grid using the one and only rule: each row, column and outlined 3x4 rectangle contains each letter exactly once; as you solve the puzzle and fill in the circled letters, place them in the correspondingly numbered cell in the quote grid, to spell out a famous quote